Seven people pleaded guilty for their part in abusing Megan Williams — but now Williams says that abuse never happened.

She will hold a press conference Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, to recant her claims of abuse, attorney Byron L. Potts, who represents Williams, told The Charleston Gazette on Tuesday night.

“She has decided she has been living this lie for approximately two years and she has decided to tell the truth,” Potts said. “She fabricated the story and she did this in retaliation because she was having a relationship with one of them.”

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At the time of the plea deals, Megan Williams, her adopted mother Carmen Williams, and her adviser Malik Shabazz criticized the plea agreements, claiming they were too light a punishment. Shabazz, co-founder of Black Lawyers for Justice and a member of the New Black Panther Party, gave Williams and her family legal counsel.

Taking the blatant race-baiting and racism out of the equation – as we should, although I guaran-frickin-tee you that the left won’t do the same, this kind of thing should make our nation collectively vomit.

Real rape is a horror. It’s a personal violation that I can’t even begin – nor do I want – to imagine having to recover from. A person’s sense of individualism, peace, security, and power is stripped away from them in an act of bloody, hateful power-tripping and control. Rarely is there a full recovery from it, as it invades the mental, spiritual, sexual, marital, and physical health of the victim. They used to execute people for it, and I’m not overly opposed to the idea of restoring that particular aspect of the death penalty. To call it an absolute horror is, in my opinion, nowhere close to a fair description.

And yet – more horrible still is the thought that not only would someone falsely accuse an innocent person of committing such a heinous and horrible act, but would do so for something as petty and stupid as political gain. Beyond the utter depravity of such a false accusation, such an accusation violates more than those falsely accused whose lives will never be restored and who will spend the rest of their lives defending against a crime they never committed.

When a real rape victim comes forward, there’s always doubt – in their own mind, in the mind of those taking the report. Did the victim “ask for it”? Did the victim “deserve it”? Are they really just covering up their late-game change of mind. In the case of rape, the answer to all of these questions is “no”. But the simple doubt over whether the victim could actually get justice means that many rapes go unreported, many rapists walk freely among us, and many victims never receive the justice they need and deserve.

And do you think false accusations and politicizing rape encourages the real victims… or discourages them?

If you’re a victim of rape, there are people who will listen. Don’t let stupid politics get in the way. Know that there is both healing and justice for you. You are loved. There are people who will listen, believe, cry with, and counsel you.